The Colors of Love
by TheWeasleyBoys
Summary: A collection of Kate and Garrett ficlets centered around the human color spectrum, and how it relates to their lives. -CHAPTER SIX UP!-
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** Twilight was all Stephenie Meyer's idea, and she's getting all the money from it. I just do the fan-fics, mmkay? :D

**Author's note:** This will most likely be updated once a month until I cover all the colors within the light spectrum (the human one, because there's none defined for vampires, LOL). Now that I've set that as my schedule…try not to beg me to update soon, because I have a busy timetable and I try to update other stories in the meantime, okeydoke? Thanks.

Oh yeah, and these ficlets are all done with Kate and Garrett in mind. Enjoy, nomads and vegetarians.

* * *

The Colors of Love

Part 1: Red

Red was first the color of blood, the sole food source that all vampires lived by whether it came from animals or human beings.

Red was also the color of fire, for it signified heat, destruction, and the most intense pain imaginable when it touched the skin.

Third, red was a symbol of passion, suggesting emotions so powerful that they could either mean pure, unbreakable affection for a couple, or else the painful angst of unrequited love.

Red symbolized tradition as well, whether it expressed the station of religious leaders or the silent mystery of ancient gatherings and spiritual gifts remembered through the ages.

Next, red represented healing and immediate aid no matter which part of the world a human was born into. Once the red symbol against the white background came into view, help had arrived to those who needed it.

And finally, red was the color of that nomad's eyes; the one who first called her name and dared her to demonstrate her power against him. She had seen many things within those eyes—the kind of blood he relied on for his survival; the fire of his spirit; the traditions he would never bow to; the help he willingly gave to the newest member of her family; and the healing his actions offered after the death of her sister.

Most of all, she saw passion there, and how greatly it contrasted from the dark deeds of nomads past.

It was not the raging passion James had held onto at being denied a kill, and had later acted upon through the near destruction of Bella Swan's life.

It also was not the desperate passion Laurent had to preserve himself and masquerade as a repentant vampire, only to abandon Irina in favor of Victoria's revenge.

Instead, Garrett's passion was the raw emotion that came from seeing a strong woman among his kind; the lure of a lifestyle more peaceful than his own; and the eagerness to end two centuries of wandering combined into a complex mindset. The longer he fed upon animal blood, the more these feelings could be strengthened and refined into true, concrete relationships with her and the other members of the Denali Coven.

And once these bonds had been forged at last, his new life of peace would be what James would never have, what Laurent had been too weak to accept, and what Irina had so harshly been denied in spite of her history. He would have both love and friendship within his grasp, but not without the necessary changes.

One day soon, he would have his thirst for human blood under control, if not also completely able to refuse it. One day soon, he would adjust fully to the lifestyle of his new family; yet this adjustment would not come without a price. Just as blood stopped flowing from an open wound, as fire was extinguished by water, and as old traditions gave way to new progress, those spirited red eyes she had grown to love would be lost to her, replaced over time by the calmer golden.

As much as this thrilled her, a part of her could not help but feel sad at the loss. Would his patriotic ways still remain, even when his bloodlust no longer ruled his actions? Would he still refuse to kneel before any and all tyrants, mortal or immortal? Would he still shake off her electric currents as though they had no effect on him? Would her Garrett still be Garrett, vegetarian or not?

It was here that she heard him creep up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist and whispering his nickname for her into her ear. He'd known how to make her smile the first day they met, and he hadn't failed to be there for her long after her beloved sister's death. If he could always make sure she went on smiling the way she did now, then there would never be a need to question his true feelings about her. He would always follow her anywhere and everywhere, and she would not have to spend her immortal life alone any longer.

In the end, the red of his vampire eyes was nothing more than a color, an old lifestyle about to pass out of sight forever. It was his devotion to her that would never fade away, and that was all that mattered.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** The only thing I own is this fan story. Everything else belongs to Stephenie Meyer, y'all.

**Author's Note:** Thanks to everyone who read, reviewed, and subscribed to me thus far. I think I'll have another chapter after this one pretty darn quick, so don't hesitate to keep checking up on me. :D Oh, and before I forget—I know it takes a few months for newborns to turn their eyes golden on a steady diet of animal blood. I've got no clue how long it takes a full-fledged, three-hundred-something-year-old vampire to do it, so call this a little artistic nomad license.

P.S.: This may be a bit longer than I'd originally imagined, but at least I could finally establish some semblance of plot other than color comparison. This chapter also gets very dark some time before the end, so if tragic past events aren't your thing, feel free to skip this entirely.

P.P.S.: I credit Bella's transformation sequence as my source for the middle of this chapter.

_And now…_

Part 2: Orange

For an immortal who'd been around as long as Garrett had, six months had come and gone in the blink of an eye. One day had him as that rugged nomad coming straight from the East; the next, he was the brave convert of Denali, growing accustomed to the Alaskan wilderness and finding his place within Tanya's household.

He'd already traded one future of wandering and solitude for another of domesticity and community. He couldn't remember the last time he'd lived in a stable home environment outside of Carlisle's, yet somehow, it felt right that he should be there.

He'd also cleaned up his appearance by choosing modern, sophisticated clothing over his old mix of woolen traveling cloaks and faded jeans. He wasn't sure about all those shades of white and blue yet, but at least no one would mistake him for a criminal masquerading as a hitchhiker.

Unfortunately, the one thing he'd wanted to give up the most was also the one thing that refused to go away so quickly. Six months might have passed in a flash, yet his blood-red eyes stayed exactly the same.

And although none of the members of his new family ever said it out loud, Garrett knew what they would say if they were given the chance. They were watching him carefully; observing his every word and action; and, if he could read the expressions on their faces correctly, they might even be waiting for him to give up.

He could sense the differing opinions about whether or not he would fully adapt to vegetarianism almost from day one. Katie, bless her silent heart, never excluded him from any conversation or meeting she had with her sister, Eleazar, or Carmen. It was important to her that he know everything that was going on, because it would help create a gentle transition from nomad to domestic. In this way, the more he got treated like a member of the family, the more he might think of himself as one.

Garrett also found that Carmen had a similar idea in mind, judging by the welcoming looks she gave him whenever he joined her in the same room. They had shared a common purpose in keeping Renesmee safe, and whatever thoughts she'd had about nomads before then had most likely vanished the moment they stood together against the Volturi. After no blood had been shed and the child's life had been preserved, that purpose had shifted into keeping a peaceful lifestyle and helping guide him slowly into it. This wasn't as extreme as making friends with a human-vampire hybrid, but at least he hoped he could give her the same affection as she gave the little one—pure, open, and unconditional.

With the remaining two members of the household, however, it was a much different story.

Eleazar had started acting like some kind of violence monitor when Garrett hunted alongside them a few miles away from the house, and he wasn't sure he appreciated such treatment. Not only did he have a tendency to stare too intently whenever a kill was made, he also had to ask a long list of questions after his brother-to-be satisfied his thirst.

"Are you sure you have fed enough?"

"Will you last through the next few weeks?"

"Which is easier prey for you, the bison or the bear?"

Garrett tried to answer as specifically as he could the first few times; but after two more trips like these, it grew rather annoying. Was he a wild, uncontrollable newborn, or had he seen enough of one way of life to know that he was ready for another? Did they expect him to lose his temper _and_ return to his old ways at the exact same time? Was his unshakeable loyalty to Kate not enough proof of his intentions, even in the face of certain death?

It definitely wasn't enough for Tanya, because she rarely spoke a word to him, let alone look him in the eye. The nomad that came before him had left this painful mark upon her, a mark that he now had to carry upon his own conscience. With one sister destroyed because of the tragic path she had followed, his relationship with Kate might be no more than history repeating where Tanya was concerned. He knew he would have to fully control his bloodlust before she would trust him, if such a thing were possible. And although his path of action was clear, it didn't make his destination any more visible upon the clouded horizon.

One night, all the intensity and underlying conflict became too strong for him to focus on anything or anyone else. If he faced another round of questions, curious glances, or cold shoulders, he knew there would be next to nothing to stop him from snapping. At the same time, losing his temper was the last thing he wished to do, especially towards those of his kind who had stopped to give him a chance.

And for these reasons, a few days before their next hunt, he slipped away into the mountains in order to get a moment to himself. There were no signs of animal or human life here; only the sound of the wind as it roared across the peaks and the feel of the snow as it whipped across his face. He would remain in the shadows of the evening until the sun rose again, and hopefully by that time, his mind would be clear enough to allow him to return home.

He made the highest tip of the tallest mountain his place of meditation, and from there, he could see just about every other snow-covered mountain and hillside without moving a muscle. Beneath him, the white ground showed no followers; above, the night sky remained as silent and as bright as the last time he'd gazed upon it. It carried a wordless reminder of someone in his life long before Kate, as well as a faint but painful memory of how she had been lost.

Garrett had been fatally wounded on the battlefield of Concord when he'd first heard what he thought was a wild animal coming through the grass. He barely had time to register its size or shape before it had him by the throat, its sharp teeth breaking effortlessly through his skin and tasting his blood.

Afterwards, there was nothing but fire in both his mind and body, engulfing him with the most intense pain and burning he'd ever experienced. Like so many others of his kind, this was both the first and the most vivid memory of his immortal life. If he had not heard his dying heart drumming desperately through his failing consciousness, he would have sworn he'd been pulled into Hell itself. The constant burning of the fire from within, whether it lasted for mere seconds or scores of years, was torture enough to suggest that he'd been branded with eternal damnation.

And yet, once some predestined amount of time had finally drawn to a close, he would soon find out that his suffering had only just begun. He didn't expect he'd ever open his eyes again, but when he found that he could, the world as he knew it had suddenly changed. Every color he saw was somehow brighter, every texture more defined, every smell in the air much stronger and all of them flooding his awareness at once. Even his sense of taste had changed, for the flavors of grass; tree bark; dry soil; gun smoke; and burnt linen were evident in the air.

There was also the scent of dead human blood present, a thing that forced his throat to burn as though the fire threatened to take him a second time. Some instinct from deep within told him to leave the dead behind and go in search of the living, and he'd obeyed this instinct without question. Within minutes, he had raced back to the safety of his village, and there upon the path stood a woman in a faded print dress, a white apron, and a matching frilled cap.

_Martha!_

His wife had been vigilant for his return, and he would not make her wait to look upon his face again. For one moment, he had stood several yards away from her; the next, he had stopped directly in front of her and pulled her straight into his arms. In the third second that had passed, he heard both the snapping of bones and Martha's screams of pain as his embrace turned into a death grip.

He tried to loosen his hold upon her, to kiss away her agony and make things right again, but it was too late. Once she'd bitten her lip by accident and drawn blood, he instinctively fed from that small wound to quiet her screams as well as his own. Soon, she'd grown just as still as he had on that battlefield, but not without the sound of her heart continuing to beat as his venom started to spread through her veins.

Garrett vaguely remembered hoping that he had imagined hurting Martha, and that somehow she would open her eyes, move without wincing, and smile up at him to reassure him that she was all right. For a time, she looked as though she were asleep, and almost as if he had never fed upon her at all.

His next memory showed her tossing about as though in a fever, crying out his name and shrieking for water to stop the fire from touching her skin. He didn't have to ask what she was talking about, not after how he'd faced the same agony himself. He had no idea how to turn back her transformation, but he did have one plan to keep her from turning into a killer like himself. If he couldn't give her water, he would instead make sure she'd never feel the pain of being burned. She also would never know the pain of killing someone she cared about the most, not when he had already taken her place in that role and known the torture of it first-hand.

In the end, when the flames glowed orange against the night sky, Martha hadn't felt a thing. It was Garrett who screamed into the shadows, mourning the loss of the love he had lost, the family he would never have, and the horrible choice he'd been forced to make. He wanted to cry more for her than for himself, but his eyes produced no tears.

Almost three centuries later, he still couldn't shed a tear for her no matter how much he wanted to. His vampire eyes remained dry in spite of the grief that had stretched across the ages to this moment. That had been the start of his long life of wandering, of always being on the move, and never staying in one place for more than a few days. How could he, when those orange flames would haunt his memories if he ever tried? How could he become attached to anyone, when there was always the chance he would destroy them as easily as he had destroyed Martha? And even if their strength and skin matched with his, would they ever believe he could grow as disciplined as they had…?

His answer finally came at sunrise, when after an age of silence, he heard three familiar sets of footsteps coming across the snow towards him. Kate, Carmen, and Eleazar must have allowed him some time alone, and if they had, he was grateful for the moment of solitude. They also cared enough to come looking for him, and even if his disappearance earned him a thousand questions from the entire family, he'd still be glad to receive a second chance.

"I'm over here, everyone!"

Within five minutes, he had raced from the tip of the mountain to the grassy ground at the bottom; then stopped to give the trio a short bow of welcome.

"Sorry about that, Katie…just needed some time to clear my head. How's everything back home?"

None of the other three vampires answered his question. Instead, they were all looking at him in an odd way, almost as if they noticed something about him that hadn't been there before.

"What's wrong? Am I still in one piece? Did Tanya sneak up behind me and rip one of my eyes out?"

"No, you're all right," Kate said slowly, reaching out to touch his hand. "We're all going to be all right now."

"Okay…?"

He looked over at Carmen to see her smiling warmly, and then noticed Eleazar carried a strange expression of triumph.

"Am I missing something here, or did you all get bored without me?"

"Perhaps we can better answer your question at home, _mi hermano_," Carmen said, gesturing for him to go first. "There is something there that you must see."

"Hm…"

Garrett accepted her request without complaint, for he had been more than ready to see her and the rest of the family again. He wanted to walk back through the doors of that house, run a careful hand over its walls, and if possible, wave to Tanya to show her that he wasn't going anywhere.

Once he passed by a mirror a few steps from the entrance, every plan he had made suddenly vanished the moment he saw his reflection. He was the same vampire who'd walked out the night before, of course, but this time, he noticed a change in his eyes. The hint of orange within the red was impossible to ignore, especially after all those days he believed such a change would never come. It had come, though, at long last. All the questions, all the inclusion, and all the watching had been for his own good, and after seeing the change in himself, he could see how this family had worked together to make it happen.

Although Tanya's face was reflected far off in the background, in a way, she had helped him by not making his new challenge far too easy. She needed proof that he would not be as selfish as Laurent had been, and hopefully, she could now see that proof in his eyes.

Eleazar's look of triumph hadn't wavered yet, and for once, Garrett was glad he'd been monitored every time they had hunted together. After centuries of being left to his own devices, he realized just how much a few boundaries meant to him. It was the difference between civility and savagery, and he knew he could use some civilizing.

Not only was Carmen smiling at him, she had also placed a hand upon his shoulder as though to reassure him of her presence. He'd made it this far, this was true…but there would probably be six more months ahead to watch his eyes become golden, if not more. Whatever the effort or however long it took, he was grateful to have her there.

And last but not least, there was Katie, her hold upon him still as strong as it had been the first time he saw her. She'd kept her right hand inside his left during their race home; yet when he had stopped in front of the mirror, he saw that her left arm had wrapped around his shoulder similar to the way Carmen had touched him. If he'd made her this happy by making it through the first stage of his conversion, he could only imagine her joy and comfort once his change was complete. He would not cause her the same pain as he had caused his first love, for he was in more control of himself than he had been his entire life. He would only bring her peace and happiness, because when she felt such things, he could allow himself to feel the same.

Like all other vampires, Garrett's immortal life had begun with burning, pain, and descent into a living hell. The burning had changed him into something more than human, and he had been forced to feed on his last tie to humanity in order to hold back that unending thirst. The orange flames had marked his beginning and defined him as one with no home, no family, and seemingly no future.

However, everything had changed for him the moment he'd felt a different kind of burning inside, the warmth of raw emotion meant to be refined into pure affection. It was a change into something stronger than a killer, and he'd chosen to follow Kate anywhere so that he could let that warmth take root and grow strong. With six months of struggle behind him, the orange tint in his eyes gave him hope to find the home he'd always wanted, the family he'd wished for, and the future he thought he'd never find.

And during the months ahead, he knew Kate would stand by him as surely as he stood by her. It was the start of his second chance at life and true love, and he wouldn't let that chance go without a fight.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:** I owe nothing pertaining to 'Twilight' or its three subsequent sequels.

**Author's Note:** Yeah, I know, it's been a while since I updated…but I hope my hiatus gave me a few fresh ideas with which to finish this fan-fiction. Writer's block is a pain in the membrane. Oh yeah, and as always, I'm referencing BD in one part of this chapter.

P.S.: Who's ready for November?

P.P.S.: Guess what kind of moon is outside tonight? ;)

Part 3: Yellow

At twelve o'clock sharp on a summer afternoon, the sun shone its brightest yellow as it hung at its highest point within the Alaskan sky. That sort of light was both beautiful and dangerous for Kate's kind, and such danger deserved cautious steps to get around it.

For that reason, the Denali National Park had been their designated hunting ground until December, when the sunlight would lessen some time before Christmas and then grow by degrees in between the winter and summer Solstices. In between those special times, the family would continue to do what it had done ever since Garrett's arrival—stay hidden between the mountains; feed upon the local wildlife; and stay alert for any straying humans that might tempt their newest member.

In Kate's opinion, however, she sometimes wished such precautions weren't necessary. She had always loved the color yellow, and often missed gazing into the light of the sun and feeling its warmth upon her face. It was a part of the memories she had of being human, and also an important part of her old life that she had taken into the new.

As a child, she would always sit completely still while her mother—her mortal mother, yet untouched by any vampire's immortal kiss—wove yellow ribbons into her hair. It was an ordinary practice repeated by many mothers in the village, a regular day in the span of a simple life; yet for little Ekaterina, it became a symbol of Mama's love for her.

Later, when she could go outside and play after finishing her chores, she would show her ribbons off to the people in her village, earning smiles and nods of approval in return. In a way, they all didn't just acknowledge a mother's love of her daughter, but also a daughter demonstrating love for her mother every time she pointed to the beautiful work created by her steady, gentle fingers.

Yellow was also the color of that special sun, the lone disc of light that separated the night from the day. For a farmer's daughter like she had been, it helped dry the land after a spring rain, provide light and warmth to the crops, and assure a good harvest to keep her family well-fed. And for many centuries after her mother had been lost to her, Kate always had the sun to keep her company. She could look through a window and find it waiting far above her, substituting one light of eternity for another that had been extinguished by death.

In the present day, however, yellow had achieved quite a different name for itself. Not only could cowards and liars be forever marked as 'chicken', there was also the possibility that the words 'yellow-bellied' would come up in conversations about them. And these days, when she had a moment alone with him, that was how Garrett marked Laurent in casual conversation.

"I don't know how you ever managed, Katie," he'd say to her. "All that time, putting everyone's hopes up…and then dashing them all to hell by choosing Victoria over your sister. Why did he bother coming at all, if he never wanted to join your family in the first place?"

"Because he only did it to escape punishment by Carlisle's clan," she would answer, her voice turning bitter. "He wanted to save his own skin, nothing more. Once she came back, naturally, he went to the one he deemed the stronger of the two."

Try as he might, Garrett could never wrap his mind around the issue of abandonment. To begin with, Kate's family was full of good souls that neither targeted nor hunted innocent humans. Second, once Renesmee's dual identity had been revealed to them, they had no second thoughts about keeping her safe. And third, they had all been ready to die in her place, if it meant giving her the same peaceful life they had enjoyed for so long.

Why, then, could anyone view someone like Victoria as part of a much more desirable lifestyle? Why would anyone choose their own personal pleasure at being alone over life in this loving, sheltered environment? It was like offering an orphan the family of their dreams, only to have them refuse and stay in their drafty, solitary room for the rest of their life, complete with a hand-to-mouth existence.

And where Garrett was concerned, he'd seen enough of that empty room to figure out what he really wanted—peace in his own life, and in the lives of those around him. He'd taken the necessary first steps in search of this, and once his eyes had began to change, he didn't hesitate to keep on going to achieve it.

It was the goal he had carried to the scene of their next hunt, his expression resolved and his eyes steady in the search for caribou. Kate had been the only one to follow him today, for the other three had chosen different territory on purpose, giving the two a little bit of time alone. She watched in silent delight as he took one young male and two elder females in succession, slowly getting his fill of their blood and then returning to her side.

"I think I'm getting the hang of this," he laughed, watching as the frightened caribou scattered in different directions. "That second female really put up a fight, didn't she?"

"Not as much as _that_ one will," she hissed, racing towards the largest of the herd, a male with long, curved antlers. He lowered his head and charged Kate to defend himself, yet once she had turned in midair and sank her teeth into his neck, the loss of blood was too much for even the leader to defeat. He went down as easily as the others, leaving the weaker members of the herd wide open for the female vampire to take her fill from them.

"I stand corrected," Garrett chuckled, clearly impressed by her skills. There was a small grin on her face by the time she rejoined him, and her hand moved instinctively towards his own.

"It took me some time to get used to as well, but yes, soon we all got the hang of it. As the old saying goes, practice makes perfect."

"Naturally."

She felt his skin brush against her own; and then their hands joined together, one set of fingers smoothly interlocking with the other.

"Well, now that we've been taken care of, I'm sure Carmen would like it if we rejoined them. There's no need to…"

He gasped suddenly and turned away from her, almost inhaling in surprise.

"What?"

"We're _not_ alone."

His amber-tinted eyes grew tense and fearful all at once, and in turn, her mind was on high alert. She gripped both of his hands with her own; every muscle within her tensed and ready for a quick escape.

"Where, Garrett?" she asked, carefully searching his face for any signs of doubt or hesitation.

"Tell me where they are!"

"The edge of the mountain," he answered, whispering so low that only she could tell what he was saying. "A few miles away, between three trees. They took the wrong trail, and now they're checking a map to find the right one. I can smell them."

"Come away, Garrett."

"I can _smell_ them!"

"Come away with me. The girl could do it, and so can you. _Come_."

His hold upon her hand tightened in reply, and with it came the strangest expression of resolve she'd ever seen.

"You'll have to shock me."

"What?"

Even though his lips barely moved, she still knew what he asked of her…but it didn't make the idea any easier to carry out.

"I said shock me, Katie. It'll give me something else to think about besides the taste of their blood."

"All we have to do is run, Garrett. We can leave and the scent won't be as strong—"

"—And then I may go on hungering for it until some new scent shows up, and I might lose _all_ my self-control. Just a few seconds, Katie…please?"

Her hesitance lasted for less than a second, for her reason quickly conquered her reluctance. One second was all she could take to watch Garrett twitch and collapse, his eyes snapping shut from the force of her gift.

One second later, she'd managed to hold him upright as they both fled the scene, traveling back to the house where he would be away from the humans and away from the temptation their blood offered. The safety of the family remained strong as ever…but not without a price.

"Don't ever ask me to do that again."

"Do what, Katie?"

"You already know what. You twitching and jerking around like you're in the electric chair, I can't…I swear, have you lost your…your mind…"

Even though her kind didn't need air to breathe, she inhaled anyway, feeling it catch in her throat. Her eyes felt horribly dry not long afterwards, and she found herself caught between wanting to hug Garrett and wanting to slap him across the face.

"I know, I know," he said softly, reaching out to stroke her arm. "It wasn't easy for me either, but it helped, didn't it?"

"Are you telling me you'd suffer to keep us safe?"

"Haven't I proven that already?"

He had proven that fact to her and the rest of the family, not just once but two times over. If she counted his crazy act of loyalty, that would make three times. There was an old story where one human gave another three chances to answer the same question, and each time, they'd answered positively…which earned them the keys to the kingdom, if certain legends could be believed. How was it that Garrett could do the exact same thing, even with the dark side of the nomadic lifestyle hanging over his head…?

Her urge to burst into tearless sobs slowly faded the moment she looked back into his eyes. She didn't want to be the one that made him choose such rash action, but at the same time, it was clear that he had no intention of placing the blame on her shoulders. Unlike the two other vampires that came before her and the two nomads before him, he'd used love as a boundary to do what was right, and not as an excuse to commit any wrongs. It was probably the bravest thing she'd seen him do since he openly challenged the Volturi, so there was definitely nothing 'yellow-bellied' about his decision.

"Garrett…?"

"Hmmm?"

"You're right."

She took hold of his hand a bit easier this time, for whatever doubt she'd felt before this excursion had vanished completely.

"Sorry I got so snippy back there, but…well, sometimes you know how to make a person nervous. It's all for the best, though…isn't it?"

"Of course."

Garrett lowered his hand to the ground and raised it again in a swift motion, after which she saw a yellow potentilla blossom held between his fingers. He carefully slipped the flower into her hair; then gestured at the path ahead of them with a smile.

"I've had enough hunting for one day. Should we catch up with the others?"

"No problem," Kate agreed, returning the smile he gave her. With or without the flowers and the sunlight, this was one of the happiest days she'd ever had.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer:** You see that author lady over there, Stephenie Meyer? Yeah, she totally wrote this Twilight series before I caught on and started writing fanfics related to that. Thought you all might want to know.

**Author's Note:** Ooh-ooh-OOH, my sparkly vampire children. Methinks I saw a recommendation on a certain website for my story some time ago. Methinks I also saw a good review for it, if I am not so mistaken.

You guys want a sizzling final chapter…? You guys want, oh, I don't know…a little honeymoon hijinks? Then I dare you to leave more comments, favorites, subscriptions, the whole shebang. The more you keep up with me, the better I update, savvy…??

THANKS.

Oh, yeah…and I had a rough time tying Irina's story in with the Atonement movie, so please forgive me for taking so long. There were some parallels that had to be linked together, so…hope I make a good connection between the two, at least.

P.S.: I've chosen the last name of 'Karlin' for the sisters in this chapter, because 1) It's Slavic and 2) It sounds a little bit like 'Cullen'. Hope it works in this installment.

P.P.S.: Is it time for Eclipse yet? Wait…only two more months, maybe?!?

Good things truly _are_ worth waiting for. And while we're on the subject…_SHOWTIME_!

Part 4: Green

He had first seen it lying on top of an antique desk at a garage sale, trapped between a cardboard box of used CDs and an heirloom collection of Kewpie dolls. Years of both work and play had thinned it at the elbows and frayed it at the cuffs, marking it as a potential target for either the donation box at the local thrift store, or else the scrap heap of someone's sewing bag.

If its silver buttons and its color of summer grass hadn't caught his eye, Garrett might have done its owner a favor by taking the jacket straight to that box on his own time. As luck would have it, however, it was the perfect color choice for a first night out…and the amount of cash he had in his pocket was more than enough to pay for it.

A handful of women and at least one man did a double-take as he passed by them; but their tendency to overlook anything out of the ordinary soon won their minds over, leading them to focus elsewhere. That kept him from having to make any hasty exits due to an overdose of suspicion mixed with curiosity. As far as these humans were concerned, he was little more than a pale, nameless stranger who would fade into the background once he'd found exactly what he wanted.

A few steps and seven dollars later, he'd acted on that idea, and therefore made his purchase without any problems. He'd even received a smile from the hostess on his way out, thus suggesting that she thought of him no differently than the others did.

"Nice doing business with you, madam."

Outside, the sky was a delightful shade of overcast cloud cover. None of the inhabitants of that Alaskan small town ever suspected a thing.

Neither, also, did they suspect a thing when he left those towns and neighborhoods behind him; pretending to drive away in a Mercedes only to make a sharp left turn for the mountains on the horizon. Up there, he could take a quick stop back at the house to deliver the jacket into Carmen's waiting hands without any unwanted suspicion. Up there, he could move about as freely as he wished, especially when there were no hikers wandering about and barely any sunlight peeked through the clouds.

And up there, the hundreds of various blooming wildflowers would serve as the perfect beginning to a night out with his Katie. Some of the normal rules of courtship had indeed survived the changes that came with each new century—while there were no longer any fancy balls held in the Governor's house, at least the delivery of flower bouquets remained a common practice. A few sprigs of azalea, a handful of lupines, and at least seven chocolate lilies; then Garrett had a bouquet of his own to be proud of.

And so, like countless generations of men before and after his mortal life, he continued that tradition by bringing the flowers straight to the front door of the Karlin household. Carmen arrived to welcome him in exactly one-tenth of a second after his first knock, and as always, both her eyes and her expression were nothing but friendly.

"You're just in time, _hermanito_," she said softly, moving aside to let him enter. "I believe your date is just about ready to go."

"I'm sure she wouldn't want to miss the first showing of Atonement," he answered, stepping into the hallway. "She picked that one out on her own. The least I could do was get her to the cinema on time, right?"

"Of course."

The jacket he'd delivered into her hands had been mended completely in the meantime; its elbows fitted with new fabric on the inside, its frayed edges turned under, and a lint brush taken over the surface until it appeared to be slightly used. Once he'd changed out of his grass-stained street clothes and put on a white shirt and a pair of khakis, his repaired garage sale acquisition served to complement the ensemble rather than detract from it. One small glance in the mirror told him what he needed to know, allowing him to return to the downstairs rooms until his mate could do the same.

"You probably should be careful and take a seat towards the front of the theater," Carmen advised, her hands and concentration now focused on a tear within the sleeve of one of her own blouses.

"That way, you'll have two exits waiting if any unwanted bloodlust suddenly sets in. It might also be easier having the humans sitting behind you where you won't have to look at them. The less attention paid to them, the better, perhaps."

"I'll keep that in mind," Garrett promised, quietly recalling the last time he'd had a problem with the scent of human blood in the air. Kate might have been reluctant to do such a thing in the beginning, but at his insistence, she'd given him something else to think about through one of her brief shocks to his system. If the worst-case scenario happened to present itself again, at least they'd have an escape plan of their own to deal with it.

"It's been nearly a year since my last non-vegetarian moment, though. I could have developed a lot of self-control since then."

"Still…it never hurts to plan ahead, does it?"

"Of course not—_ah_! There she comes now!"

In an instant, there was movement in the hallway between the upper rooms; footsteps upon the staircase; and finally, a vision of Kate in a pale green summer dress and matching heels, her blond hair woven carefully into a French braid and secured with a ceramic butterfly clasp. A thin string of pearls encircled her slender throat, and to keep up the charade of appearing human, she'd brought along a small handbag that swished faintly with the sound of dollar bills brushing against one another.

At this moment, she looked as radiant and healthy as the landscape waiting outside, if not also as beautiful as the day he first saw her. And at that same moment, he could swear without a doubt that the same feeling was mirrored exactly within her eyes, for it grew by degrees after she accepted his collection of wildflowers. She did have a love of chocolate lilies after all, for without hesitation, she took a few seconds to go arrange them in a vase.

Tanya might have secreted herself away upstairs alongside Eleazar; but Garrett silently reasoned that only she could have helped her sister arrange this sort of lovely effect if Katie had not thought it up entirely on her own. The telltale exhale of unnecessary oxygen proved this point to him all too clearly.

"Do you really think she's ready for this?" he heard her whisper, temporarily distracting him from that vision upon the stairs.

Ready for _this_? Hadn't all the right steps already been taken to assure that the date went smoothly? There wasn't anything dangerous about where the two of them were headed. There also wouldn't be any danger during their meal afterwards, because no human on earth would dare travel the forest in the middle of the night. Tanya was clearly worrying about nothing, unless…

"Garrett…?"

Kate had returned instantly after placing the vase upon a table in the living room. Unfortunately, there was a mixture of nerves and worry in her eyes now, poor dear. He must have made her think that he was having second thoughts...not that he would _ever_ do such a thing.

"Sorry about that, Katie. Something crossed my mind, but it was so unimportant that I let it slide after a millisecond."

Worry changed to slight relief, and he felt relieved along with his mate.

"All right, well…I was just about to ask you, 'How do I look'?"

"Funny you should mention that. I was just about to say that you look absolutely stunning."

He reached out to take her hand, and within a few seconds, their fingers had entwined into a gentle grip as he helped her down the last few remaining stairs.

"Thank you. You're looking rather charming as well."

"Just as I had hoped to do." He chanced a quick look back at Carmen, who stood ready to open the door for them when the time came.

"What do you think? Home by midnight, perhaps?"

"I'll trust you two not to do anything foolish," she chuckled, allowing them their exit with a small twist of the doorknob. "Have fun!"

"Well, that was quite the cautionary tale, wasn't it?"

"How so?"

Garrett waited patiently beside Kate as the two of them watched a sleeping herd of caribou in the distance. A few seconds more, and then both of them would make their move.

"It definitely teaches people not to make criminal accusations without the right sort of evidence, I'd say…especially if those people are well under the age of adulthood."

He moved into a crouching position and then charged, closing in upon the first female that rested in between a pair of trees. Her thrashing movements and bellows of pain woke the rest of the herd in an instant, sending them all scrambling to their feet in a desperate attempt to escape.

"Apparently not having total control over one's own play does strange things to the mind," Kate joked, breaking into a run. "The poor girl was in a bad mood ever since Lola tried playing director _and_ Arabella at the same time!"

"That wasn't her fault, though, was it? Didn't the older girl have 'Master Manipulator' written all over her face?"

"It was probably the least she could do, given the fact that she had no control over her parents splitting up. Briony could have been a little less obvious about her own temper, though..."

He watched as she took two females in succession; then circled around to rejoin him at the back of the retreating herd.

"…On the other hand, perhaps she should have paid more attention to an adult stranger flirting with a child, and not two adults having a quiet moment alone in the library."

"Meaning…?"

"Think about it—the girl sees her sister and her sister's boyfriend getting intimate, she reads his letter to her, and then she jumps straight to thinking that the boyfriend is guilty of raping her cousin? She should have given the boyfriend a lot more faith than that! Anyone can see he was completely devoted to the older sister. Why would he forget her and force himself onto someone else?"

The couple ran side by side now, ignoring the remaining females and calves for the prospect of feeding upon the bull caribou at the front. At this stage in the migration season, he would be at his healthiest before autumn crept in to mark the beginning of the mating period. And with so many other creatures, health meant the juiciest, most satisfying blood as well.

"Maybe at that age, she took a bad first impression to guarantee even darker intentions for other women besides her sister."

"Or maybe she had some dark intentions of her own, according to the movie?"

"Jealousy could do that to a person, especially somebody _that_ young."

"Yes, and right after Robbie saved her from drowning, only to push her away in anger."

They were upon him in an instant, sinking their teeth into his flesh before he could turn around or defend himself. Within ten seconds, the bull caribou thrashed all four legs, twitched, and finally fell still.

"It must have been terrible for her, all those strange things happening. Let's not forget that she thought she saw him giving her sister orders to act promiscuous, and then to see him pressed up against Cee like that in the library…"

Kate's eyes had not yet gone back to their usual golden shade, yet as the remaining caribou finally slipped away from them and fled into the darkness, she paid them no further attention. Instead, her focus remained set upon a damp patch of grass, her face frozen in silent thought.

"…I can't help but wonder sometimes…do you think that's _really_ why Irina acted the way she did?"

"I beg your pardon…?"

Once Garrett had pulled free of the dead bull caribou's body, he could finally think about just what point Katie was trying to make without the smell of blood to overpower him. Whatever the connection, he sure hadn't expected her to breach it like _that_.

"She didn't just see Renesmee racing around the clearing and catching snowflakes. She also saw the little one's parents together…and seemingly enjoying themselves as well, just like those two humans in the movie. She never got to experience that sort of thing, and…for all we know, it could have made her angry enough to do something rotten. To _lie, _even."

"Any other vampire might have easily made the same assumption, Katie. I wasn't quite sure what to think of the babe myself, at least not when I first laid eyes on her."

"You didn't lose anyone to the werewolves before then, though…not anyone important to you. She looked so sad, so upset after it happened…and just when she tried thinking clearly again and looking past all that, she came back and thought she saw something terrible taking place. Or worse—that it already had taken place, and that her extended family was now flaunting their lack of regard for the law."

The law _again_. Garrett had abided by the rules as long as he could like any other Immortal, yet the unjustified slaughter of innocents—young or old—had been the cause and the conflict for him to start thinking twice about respecting the Volturi any further. That cause had brought him to stare into that innocent pair of chocolate-brown eyes; feel the touch of that tiny, gentle finger; and see the truth of her unexpected, frightening, and loving origins.

And long after that conflict had ended, the sad look in his mate's eyes would be enough to teach him never to hear the Volturi out ever again. Even without Renesmee's death sentence and a promise to let her grow up safely, they had still taken what they wanted without a single pang of remorse, and not even Aro's famous style of flattery and recruiting would ever change that.

"I can't speak for her mind, Katie. It would be like putting words into her mouth, and I don't want to insult her memory like that."

He would stop thinking about the Volturi now, though, because there were more important matters to discuss first. Kate nodded slowly as she listened to his words, her face blank while her eyes remained thoughtful. So far, he'd avoided the subject of Irina, waiting instead until the right moment where his mate could speak about her freely. Now that the right moment was finally here, he hoped not to say anything that might cause her any more pain.

"What I do know is, she must have had a hard time trying to balance how she felt about her extended family and how much she respected the law…at least until the lawmakers proved just how corrupt they really were on the inside. She didn't want to carry around any grudges against them after what happened to Laurent. Maybe she had a feeling that he would have done the same thing to any other Immortal family as he had done to hers…and to yours. Maybe she tried seeing things from the Cullens' side as well. If it kept a potential sister, daughter, wife, and cousin around to enjoy life a little while longer, were the shape-shifters still the enemy in her case?"

" '_The enemy of my enemy is my friend_,' " Kate quoted, almost as though to agree with him. "I must have heard that line a thousand times during the course of my existence. I don't think I really understood it until now."

"And a few thirsty, angry _vampire_ wanderers turned out to be the enemy there, didn't they? Perhaps she understood that fact as well, and both of these little truths led her to try again."

"But Renesmee…or what Irina thought Renesmee was, only to learn much too late that it was all a mistake…why couldn't the Volturi have let her go? Why couldn't they have understood that she made those claims on her past experiences? Why did they have to kill her in front of her own family?"

"What happened right after we saw her disappear?" Garrett asked quietly. "The Volturi didn't get a happy reaction out of the witnesses, did they…?"

She didn't answer this time, but when he saw the look in her eyes, he knew that she wouldn't have to. The sole reason had been to provoke the nonviolent vampires into retaliation, thus giving the Volturi a new reason to attack them. Instead of just Irina, they could have had the entire family and then some.

And if he and at least one other cool head had not prevailed, perhaps they would have been successful. Thank heavens they had not had to deal with _those_ consequences.

"I know there are laws at play here, and believe me, I'm all for keeping most of them," he went on, taking a step closer to her. "The one rule I've never appreciated is taking out a clan because their beliefs differ from the Immortals in charge. I think, perhaps, you understand why…"

Through the darkness, he could see her amber-tinted eyes as easily as if they were standing in broad daylight. She seemed so unhappy, so worried, and so wary of him all at once. What more could he do to prove his loyalty to her and to her family? What could he do to help take all that pain away, and see her miserable expression melt into that smile he loved so much?

One second later, he answered his own question by leaning forward and leaving the softest of kisses upon her lips. It was what he had hoped to do one day ever since the time of their first meeting, and now he had met that goal.

"…I've got too much to care about right here than to leave it all behind me now. We've been through the worst already, have we not? Perhaps it's time that we challenge ourselves to see if we can go through the best as well."

"The Volturi might not let us go too long without another visit, though," Kate pressed, looking him square in the eye.

"They could give this conflict a second try at any time, and then…"

"…And then they'll have to deal with the same results as they did with Renesmee," Garrett answered, smiling mischievously.

"If they ever want to make that sort of decision, we'll know how to prepare for them. There's a lot more of us to deal with this time around than they—"

He broke off mid-sentence, laughter spilling freely from his lips.

"Oh, no, it's finally happened! I know you well enough to start finishing your sentences! Amazing!"

"You say that like it's a bad thing," she snickered, pretending to pout as she toyed with a lock of his hair. "Isn't it nice for one of us to try and guess what the other might be thinking?"

"More than you realize," he agreed, gently redirecting her hand so that he could feel it against his face.

"For a while, it was my thoughts versus the sounds of the wilderness. It's good to hear another voice besides my own to have a conversation with."

"I'll remember to speak up more often when we're together, then," Kate promised, exhaling by impulse rather than by need. "We were rather lonely before you came along, too. Having another good heart within the family makes eternity a lot more interesting."

"I hope I'll be as interesting as I am now, no matter how long eternity lasts us," Garrett said with a smile. "The last thing I'd want to do is become a terrible bore."

"Don't worry," she laughed, showing him that smile at long last. "I'll do whatever I can to make sure you never stop being interesting."

She returned the kiss as quickly as he had given it; then gestured back to the retreating herd in the distance.

"Now let's get our fill before those caribou fall asleep again…shall we?"


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note**—Please pardon me for not editing the story description to reflect the colors' updates outside of "Red". That may be why I haven't been getting as many readers/reviewers as I'd hoped…I probably just about poked myself in the foot with my mouse arrow on that matter. Whew…that's something I shall _never_ do again. Again, my apologies.

Please also pardon me for taking my time, but I seem to have lost a lot of my momentum lately due to writer's block and a mile-long list of distractions. Maybe it's just the near-end-of-my-story blues, but there you are. Two more chapters to go after this one, and I hope I do a good job to finish as I did to start with.

Chapter Five: Blue

_Dear Tanya, Eleazar, Carmen, Garrett, and Kate:_

_The Volturi continue to remain blissfully absent in our lives and the lives of others, and I've seen no sign of them returning to Forks in the future…_

The email must have arrived right before Tanya logged into her account, because the timestamp read exactly three minutes prior to three in the afternoon, local time. Perhaps it was just as well, for she'd been so involved in current family events that she hadn't sent any messages for at least a month or two. Ah, well…at least the Olympic side of her family, vampire and otherwise, seemed to be all right for now. She would take her blessings where she could find them.

…_We're gearing up for another visit from Bella's father, Charlie, who undoubtedly will be interested to know how she and her new family are doing. I expect he might bring Sue along this time, I hear they're getting pretty close. Close enough to announce their engagement someday, maybe, if things continue to go as positively as they have been…_

She might not have ever met Bella's mortal father in person, but at least she'd listened in long enough on a few conversations to know that he had been more than just willing to watch out for his daughter. According to Edward, he'd almost reached for his gun after he found out just who her cousin-by-proxy intended to marry. It was hard to begrudge him that protective act, especially since he was probably as devoted to keeping the peace as she was. Neither, also, could she look down on his potential decision to become stepfather to two of the shape-shifting children. If there was one thing that recent history had taught her, it was to never take anything—or anyone—at mere face value.

…_And yes, all is still well with her and my brother, just in case you were wondering. Sometimes Nahuel contacts them to ask questions and check in on things, but other than that, it's just as peaceful and worry-free as the night the Volturi went home in disgrace… _

From what she'd seen and heard of Nahuel, he was as much a curiosity as one other hybrid child she'd come to know and love. All those years by himself and his biological aunt, and somehow, not a single member of the Volturi Guard had ever picked up their scent. Neither, also, had they ever caught on to Joham's existence or any of his natural daughters, an issue somewhat explained by the fact that they must have never visited the New World as much as they had gone to other countries around Europe and Asia. Perhaps it was just as well that he and Huilen had never been discovered until recently—they had never attracted undue attention in the Argentinean wilderness, and for that could have easily led a life as peaceful as that of her Immortal family. If the Volturi did something smart for once and focused on punishing Joham rather than any of his children, perhaps also could they continue with that life, and never come to any harm along the way.

And then, because Alice had most likely foreseen her curiosity on the matter, the subject of the letter slowly turned to Renesmee and her continuing development within the Cullen household:

_Yes, Nessie is still healthy and well, and still growing the slightest bit like a young shapeshifter. Just yesterday, she attempted to catch her first rabbit entirely on her own. She might have succeeded, too, if the little furball hadn't almost ran back into its hole and forced Jacob to grab it by the neck…_

Reading her adoptive cousin's words transported Tanya back to that beautiful white house in the forest, the place where she'd first smelled that unique, unexpected combination of spring air and something close to moonlight. She remembered feeling bewildered, suspicious, horrified, and even furious at the girl's sudden, unusual existence. It was a painful reminder of how she and her sisters had lost their mother and Maker, as well as the lengths some members of their kind would go to in order to increase their Immortal families and indulge their parental instincts at the same time.

At first, Sasha had seemed both mysterious and misguided to them, for she had provided a new home for her three adopted daughters one night and then convinced them to seduce a room full of male strangers the next, feeding on each and every one of them as they went along. At the time, Tanya and the others had wondered amongst themselves if Sasha had ever been jilted at the altar or mourned the loss of a dead lover, yet they had also believed that asking personal questions of her would be considered disrespectful. It was customary to keep one's misgivings secret, especially where age and family status was concerned. They could not, therefore, doubt the intentions of someone who had saved all their lives from an outbreak of consumption. The disease had been mistaken for vampirism back then, yet ironically, a true vampire had rescued them all and made it so they would never suffer another deadly illness ever again. Why, then, would they insult her gift of eternal life in such a manner?

And so, for a few years or more, the four of them had masqueraded as a widow and her three daughters, an idea easily figured into truth thanks to the fact of Sasha's own red-tinted hair. One look at the quartet, and the average human could easily assume that the missing father and husband had been blond like Irina and Kate, while Tanya naturally took after Sasha in her appearance. Sasha had also garnered sympathy from strangers by claiming that her daughters' three husbands-to-be had died tragically from the consumption, a foolproof way to earn the nightly protection of men who wished to be romantic heroes to four lonely damsels in distress. Their hormones, pride, and ego drew them to the family like moths to the flame, and once one of the four women simpered about a little time alone in the bedroom, they saw no reason to refuse. It would be the last time a long list of those men would ever be seen alive. In the end, to rephrase the old song, after they fell down dead they all burned to ashes, for Sasha had no desire to cause trouble by creating any more newborns…at least, not the grown male variety. She had a different sort of choice in mind, and it would change the lives of her three daughters forever.

Some time later, they'd found another small group of vampires living on the outskirts of Bohemia, as it had been called around the start of the seventeenth century. The four women had assimilated quickly into that Immortal society, most likely thanks to the fact that they drank human blood just like the foreign strangers they became accustomed to. Each member of that small group came and went as they pleased, fed as their bodies required, and no Humans of the surrounding villages ever became too suspicious if one of their neighbors suddenly vanished into thin air. Bad weather, wild animals, and disease outbreaks were the culprits back then, thus giving any pale strangers no second looks.

Everything changed once the occasional disappearance grew to ten, fifty, even hundreds at a time; the masses of dead bodies stacked one on top of another like logs in a wood pile. Tanya and her sisters had originally thought the village itself fell into a bloodlust, but the blame fell upon only one vampire in the end—or rather, one grown vampire and what would later be known as an Immortal Child. The three women would not see him until the arrival of the strangers in the black cloaks, yet when they finally looked Vasilii in the face, somehow, they knew he would not last for very long amongst their kind. When they looked into the faces of those strangers, however, they feared for a moment that they might join him. The only thing that kept that fear from becoming reality was that they'd never seen Vasilii's creation in the first place, or, for that matter, helped make sure that it happened. Their innocence gained them another millennia of life while Sasha's guilt cost both hers and Vasilii's, thus teaching them all about Immortal law the hard way. That hard lesson had arisen in her memory the day she thought she saw another Immortal child resting in her new cousin-in-law's arms.

_She asks about you and the others every few days, by the way. Do you think we could arrange a visit of our own in the near future? Not only would Nessie love it, but we could all take some time to catch up on what's been going on at home… _

Everything had changed so much since she'd first seen Renesmee for herself. Before, she had given the child a wide berth at first sight, fearing that the little girl would pounce upon her out of unbridled rage, uncontrollable playfulness, or a combination of the two. That would have been what Vasilii might have done, if he'd lived long enough to meet the rest of his vampire family. Creatures that small were not just unable to fend for themselves, they also had no concept of self-control and, due to their frozen state of childhood, would react to any slight against them with a magnified temper and a heightened amount of physical force. For all she knew, the child in Bella's arms was one second away from doing the exact same thing and, if so, Irina would have been right to alert the Volturi after all.

Moreover, if it hadn't been for Edward's intervention, Carmen's willingness to listen, and the participation of Bella and Renesmee together, she might have even contemplated going to the Volturi one step behind Irina. There might have been two witnesses instead of one, and so helped to complicate the situation through their quick, judgmental testimony. She also might have gone even further by taking care of the child with her own bare hands, if not for Renesmee herself sharing her memories with Carmen, and thus teaching Tanya to think otherwise. She could have destroyed an innocent life as easily as the Volturi had destroyed Irina's, and all from not taking the time to listen. Thank goodness that all her involved family members had spoken up and settled things peacefully, keeping both her temper and her guilt forever at bay.

Now, instead of fury, suspicion, or horror; she felt a mix of affection and acceptance for that new addition to her extended family. She had sacrificed her own safety and that of her coven for the then toddler-aged Renesmee, and although the Volturi themselves had threatened them all for standing by her, their combined talents at reasoning, visual proof, inciting rebellion, protective shields, and nonviolent discussion had sent them away without the mass execution they had all craved. One innocent life had been spared, and that innocent reestablished communication with them from time to time by leaving little notes at the bottom of the Cullens' e-mails. It made no difference that she had learned to do this as soon as she had reached her biological first birthday, or that by then she still appeared to be no older than a three-year-old. She would always be a fast learner, and if that included adding her own postmarks, so be it. She would never have to go through the pain of being bullied by the average, completely human children of the public and private school systems, at least. The sooner she could check on her newest cousin's progress and see it for herself, the happier the both of them would be.

…_I hear Garret's eyes are starting to turn amber now. Am I right? It'll be a very good thing to have another vegetarian in the family, never mind another soul open to the idea of peacefully coexisting with humans. Maybe he could find work down in Anchorage later on, the Historical Society could always have an opening or two in the near future… _

It was good that Alice showed interest in her newest cousin-by-proxy. They hadn't really had a chance to speak to one another in between rescuing Renesmee and heading home after the danger had passed. Now that the subject had been broached, Tanya thought regretfully, Alice had more interest in him in one moment than she herself had paid attention to him within several months. In spite of all they had been through together, she had continued to distance herself and watch his improvement from far away, as though to somehow count down the months, weeks, days, hours, minutes, and seconds until that improvement fell apart. In spite of the way his red eyes dulled to amber and his black eyelids had turned to grey shadows, she still refused to speak to him for more than a few minutes at a time. She'd waited for him to change his mind and disappear ever since that first day at the Cullen house, the day that everything in the vampire world changed forever.

On that day, her new experiences hadn't ended with getting to know a half-human, half-vampire child. That meeting had been unnerving at first, but only at first. Time taught her to be open-minded and open-hearted, and as the days slowly counted down to the Volturi's arrival, hers and Renesmee's relationship had become close to that enjoyed by countless human families everywhere, if not close enough. At the same time, that meeting had been the easy part.

The more difficult half of the equation didn't present itself until she thought she saw some mysterious Nomad flirting with her sister one afternoon. That Nomad turned out to be Garrett, the Revolutionary War veteran-turned-wanderer who, as she came to understand within minutes, had a predilection for blondes. And not just any blonde vampire, of course, but the sister who hadn't been lead astray and heartbroken by any two-faced liars. Tanya had wanted nothing more than to never see another Nomad's bad intentions again, but there Garrett was, ready to make that dark part of her family's history repeat itself by leading Kate astray.

_Why couldn't he keep his lust to himself?_ she had thought originally, wishing she could direct her disapproval as easily as Kate directed her shock. _Or better yet, why couldn't he pick some other Coven to tear apart?_

Her apprehension grew the moment she witnessed that same Nomad daring Kate to demonstrate her ability against him, and in a playful tone of voice, no less. It had to be some kind of trick on his part, she had deduced. For all she had known at the time, either the late James, Laurent, or Victoria had a few old friends left behind by their wild wanderings, and in revenge for one, two, or all three losing their lives in Forks, Garrett planned to pay back each vampire and werewolf back with a few deaths of his own. What would it matter to him if he had to begin with the Denali Coven, and work his way up from there? He could have already found out that one sister conflicted with the other two over Laurent's death, and if so, it would only be a matter of dividing the other two in order to conquer them, let alone Eleazar and Carmen as well. She had distanced herself from him then, too, and tried to persuade the others to see reason in leaving him alone.

And yet, in spite of her doubts and efforts, he'd kept his bizarre act going. He'd asked a long list of questions about her and Kate both, and although she'd been less willing to answer them than her sister had been, still did he make no move to avoid or abandon them. When he had agreed to follow Kate anywhere and they had all seemed minutes away from becoming the Volturi's next victims, she had scoffed inside her mind, deeming it as an empty promise that Garrett would take back if nothing somehow had managed to go wrong in the end.

He was far from done where Kate was concerned, however. The moment the Volturi had been driven back to their castle, he'd swung her around in his arms as though still a soldier returning home from war, and she his long-estranged blushing bride. Carmen and Eleazar had hugged each other on the spot, happy to follow Rosalie's and Emmet's example now that the worst had finally ended. Tanya had merely stood there in silence, her eyes narrowing and her fists clenched in silent grief, for no tears could be shed for Irina no matter how hard she tried. She'd persisted in this grieving for so long that she'd missed just about everything else her incomplete family had once enjoyed.

She'd missed the thrill of the hunt, the times their family talked around the living room table, the many catching-up periods between hers and the Cullens' households. And this time, that was merely the tip of the iceberg. She'd also missed all of the quiet looks, the loving whispers, the nightly outings, and just about every other romantic moment between Kate and Garrett. She hadn't paid them any attention until this moment, and by then, it could very well be too late to hope to catch up. For all she knew now, her silence could be the one reason the two of them had traveled to Boston for a week, if not also for some more time alone as a couple.

…_By the way, there aren't any vampire criminal masterminds hiding out in Boston, so I really wouldn't be worried about that sort of thing. I'm also sure no bloodsucking gangs will follow Kate and Garrett back home, either. I'd watch out for something small, round, and formal, though…one never knows when that sort of thing might turn up, does one? It might even come from Boston, too, if Garrett finds the right jeweler for the occasion! *wink wink*_

_Hope things are well with you and yours,_

_Alice_

_P.S., from Renesmee:_

_Jacob says he'll eat the whole cake if nobody else wants a piece. I hope Kate won't mind._

Alice had sent her strange messages before, but this one definitely took more than a second to figure out. What did she mean by 'small, round, and formal', and what did a jeweler have to do with her sister visiting Boston with Garrett? They'd traveled there just so he could show her what his old home looked like at the present, as well as to describe to her all that it had used to be when he was human. There would be no need to visit any jeweler, especially if it was sunny outside and the light kept them from any contact with the living. Their relatives also didn't celebrate their mortal birthdays, which was very unlike what their relatives had done with their newest immortal. And if there was no physical need for celebration or cake, then why would Nessie tell her about Jacob's offer to eat it by himself?

It took Tanya exactly thirty seconds to figure out the answer to Alice's riddle. Garrett hadn't just taken Kate to Boston for a nostalgic visit after all. He'd taken her there to propose.


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Note:** Two chapters to go after this one…I might be dragging my feet a little bit, because I just might not want this to end before the first Breaking Dawn movie comes out. Maybe I could hold off on the final _final_ chapter until November 2012…I don't know. All good things must come to an end, as they say…but seriously, why this series? Why could there not have been seven instead of just four? Will I ever find out why?

Anyways…number six in the color spectrum, and here's hoping it's a good one. I would have had it up sooner if not for something I'll call the 'Spanish Knot,' i.e. the conversation between Eleazar and Tanya somewhere around the middle. Now that I might have finally figured it out…here you go, everybody, and happy reading. :) Peace out.

Part 6: Indigo

"She's getting _married_."

Somewhere in the forest around the Karlin household, Tanya stood alone, wishing that on tonight of all nights, somehow she could make herself produce human tears again.

"She's getting married, and we're getting a new member for our coven, and…and I'm getting a brother-in-law. Can you imagine that? _Me_. Me, the sister-in-law, the head of the household, and to top all of that…"

She was alone, but a second pair of eyes watched her without stirring or blinking. She stood before the stone memorial she had created for Irina with her own two hands, building it like a makeshift altar on purpose. Instead of a statue or a holy relic at its apex, however, there rested a framed photograph of her late sister, the image's eyes frozen in time. It was as though Irina herself could still watch her through that photograph, and yet see absolutely nothing of what was happening.

"…And to top all of that, she wants _me_ to give her away during the ceremony. Can you believe that, Irina? Can you believe that she thinks I'm ready to do something like this? Can you believe that she would presume I could handle such a situation?"

The female vampire in the frame smiled as she had done long after the real Irina's murder, and somewhere beneath her, a silver chain attached to a dark blue pendant swung slightly with the evening's breeze. Tanya's eyes could only narrow in response, still trying and still failing to give her the tears she so desperately longed for.

"I'm not ready for this, Sister. I'm not ready to say goodbye to her, and I'm not ready to hand Kate over to _him_. It should have been you."

Hate bubbled up inside her like poison, and with it, she let out that low, angry hiss she'd been saving for nearly a year since the Volturi's final visit.

"It should have been _you_, Irina. You should have been the first to walk down the aisle, right? You were the first out of all three of us to discover a potential mate. You were the first to show that outsider an alternative to human blood. You were the first to show feelings for that Nomad, let alone any wandering member of our kind. He should not have gone back to…to _her_. He should have _never_ gone back to her. It should have been _you_ as the bride."

Her hands suddenly balled into fists, and within a millisecond there was a pile of stone-colored dust where Irina's memorial used to stand. Tanya found herself searching frantically through the dust to reclaim that old photograph, the one thing she could have used to keep all those memories of her sister intact, the _only_ thing she believed she had left of Irina herself. She should not have let her anger go so horribly as she had. She should have taken it out on any other inanimate object but the memorial she had so carefully built—a tree, a grove of trees, a boulder, a river, a _hill_, _any other_ piece of natural creation so that she would not have ruined one of her own so easily.

Instead, there was only dust where her temper had been one blink of an eye ago. She found nothing but stone dust, wood dust, disintegrated paper, more stone dust…and finally, that dark blue pendant necklace which had miraculously not been destroyed by the full force of her own rage.

That necklace had also belonged to Irina; left behind when she had first spotted Renesmee catching a snowflake, and then begun her long journey to alert the Volturi of the child's supposed creation. It had hung from that special place on the memorial for nine months, and no animal or force of nature had ever carried it away from her. Even now, as she held it safe inside her hands, it had narrowly avoided being shattered forever by her own carelessness and anger.

"I'm sorry. I'm _sorry_. I'm _so_ sorry…"

She would have to find a new safe place for this one memento, but this time, she would make sure not to tempt herself by hiding it rather than storing it in something breakable. She could do a human thing for once, and perhaps lock it away in a wooden box before slipping it beneath a few sweaters inside her large closet. That way, she could take it out and look at it when she needed to, and keep it out of her reach during the times where she felt fine enough not to glance at it for strength or comfort. She could not break it as she had broken the photograph of her sister. She _would_ not. All would be well as long as this one, final object was protected, and she would never have to feel as though she had lost Irina all over again.

Tanya had raced halfway back to the Karlin house before that dark hatred struck her again, only this time, it was about that final look she'd had of Irina right before the Volturi turned her to ashes. She had been totally powerless to stop them from tearing her apart, burning her remains, and ending her life completely with their bare hands. She had been powerless to stop her sister from falling for the wrong Nomad, getting her heart broken, and taking her vengeance out on the wrong set of vampires. All this had happened entirely out of the range of her control…

…And she was supposed to be the leader. _Her_. Tanya Karlin. Tanya Denali. A real leader would not have let things turn as chaotic as they had. A real leader would have stopped everything before it got too dangerous for anyone. A _real_ leader would have fought Aro himself, hand-to-hand if she had to, and after a long battle struck him and the rest of the Volturi down for good. _A real leader could have stopped it…_

Her legs and arms suddenly felt so heavy that she dropped to her knees, the necklace dangling from her fingers as she struggled to regain her composure. Why didn't any of them blame her the way she blamed herself right now? Why had they all stayed behind in that house, and not abandoned her one by one like she'd abandoned Irina? Didn't they know she should have done a lot better than standing and watching as they burned her? What was it about her that made them stay there for so long?

Tanya flinched as she heard Carmen and Eleazar laughing from somewhere inside the house. They were so happy about Kate's engagement, so _very_ happy that they were on their way to a second wedding, and this one closer to home, no less. What would they do as soon as the vows were spoken, the music had been played, and the guests all returned to their respective territories? Take her into a sound-proof room and tell her how they really felt about her leadership…or lack thereof?

_Guys…has anyone seen Tanya lately? She's missing the party!_

Her hearing picked up Kate's question automatically, and some tiny part of her mind told her to stop and listen.

_Haven't seen her for at least an hour…d'you think she went out for a midnight snack?_

She barely resisted the urge to roll her eyes at that Nomad's comment. Leave it to him to crack a joke at a time like this!

_She would have invited the rest of us along,_ Carmen said quietly, no doubt staring through the windows now to try and get a glimpse of her there. _You do not suppose…?_

A small release of air, a slight brushing of movement, and then:

_The rest of you stay here,_ Eleazar insisted, walking towards the door and opening it in one fluid motion_. If we do not return within five minutes or less, call the Cullens…_

He had left the house before the rest of them could object, let alone before she could call out to him and give away her location. What did he hope to do out here besides find her? Did he expect that they were no longer alone in the forest? Did he really think that maybe…

A rush of wind blew in the distance; leaves, branches, bushes, and a few small forest creatures were disturbed; and then she saw him stopping several feet away at the sight of her, no doubt having picked up her scent somehow and following it straight to this spot.

"Hello there, Eleazar."

He seemed only mildly surprised at having found her so fast, for he then proceeded at a speed considered quite slow for their kind, glancing occasionally into the distance as he finally stopped right in front of her.

"You found me at last, I guess. Congratulations."

His focus turned instantly from her to the salvaged necklace and then back again, his brow creasing with worry.

"The memorial…?"

"_Gone_," Tanya heard herself gasp, almost shattering the silver chain in her bare hands as carelessly as she had destroyed her own creation to honor her sister.

"It's all gone, Eleazar…every little bit, and…and I did it this time. It was _me_."

"Tanya, I…"

He moved quickly towards her now, one hand raised as though to try and comfort her, but she had pulled away from him before he could even blink.

"It was _me_, Eleazar, do you hear? I was the one who destroyed her memorial just now. With my _own_ two hands. That's a fine way to honor a fallen family member, isn't it?"

He said nothing, but stared at her warily, almost as though he half expected her to attack him next. Maybe that was the only thing she was good for now, because she certainly had forgotten just how to lead. Maybe she had never led them at all, and instead they had only indulged her and watched her come apart one day at a time after Irina's demise.

"In fact, it's a miracle that I didn't end up breaking her necklace, too. I already destroyed her last photograph and the frame to boot, so what's one little _bauble_, anyway? I mean, it's not like she's ever going to wear it again, now, is she?"

More silence and another blank stare from Eleazar, and this time, Tanya heard herself hiss at him rather than anything the Volturi had done before.

"Well, come on now. Out with it. There's something you've been dying to tell me all these months, but you never got the chance, right? _Fine_. Tonight you do, so let's hear it, Eleazar. Let's hear what you _really_ think about me and my leadership of this coven."

"I don't know what you're talking about, Tanya."

"Oh, you don't know? Am I _really_ supposed to believe that?"

This time, instead of hissing out her annoyance, Tanya growled. It was a low, edgy sound she'd only heard from those shape-shifting boys before and never from her own throat, or so she wished to believe tonight.

"Do you think I didn't notice you thinking about my weakness, or that I couldn't hear you talking about my issues behind my back?"

"We talked because you were _missing_, Tanya. Should we not still be on high alert, even with the Volturi no longer seeming concerned with us? Should we not keep an eye on each other, even our leader?"

Whatever epithets or insults she'd hoped to throw back at him, one by one, all of them faded from her mind as quickly as they had entered it. She hadn't expected Eleazar to consider her feelings, not when he and the others had their minds on Kate's wedding. She hadn't expected any of them to remember her. She was, for lack of a better word, the 'lone wolf' in the coven who had yet to find to find her soul mate, and the complete opposite of the rest of her family who had already experienced such things ages ago.

She would have had no way to empathize when the other four talked about marital bliss or romantic snags that needed some smoothing over. Even though the age of marrying straight out of school had long since passed, the age of being ostracized for one's lack of a wedding ring was still alive and well…and still, there was no telling on just how everyone else felt about her failure to protect Irina. What would they say when she walked through the door with the pendant in her hands, and saw the dust of the destroyed memorial sticking to her clothes? How would Kate react over her failure to hold onto their sister one more time…?

"We should not stay here," Eleazar was saying, taking her hand and glancing towards the direction of the Karlin house. "I gave the others five minutes, they'll panic if we don't return…may I?"

Tanya felt her face stiffen into an emotionless mask, but somehow she managed to nod and motion for Eleazar to lead the way. Holding onto his hand, she allowed herself to be guided to the front door, the forest practically flying past the both of them until she felt the familiar hardness of the stone steps beneath her feet. One second later, there was the dropping of a cellular phone, the swishing of fabrics rubbing against each other, and finally the swinging of a door she had almost thought to be closed.

"_Tanya_! Thank God!"

The scents of lilies, snowmelt, and fox fur almost overwhelmed Tanya as Kate threw her arms around her neck, the sudden contact making two pairs of eyes try to water at the same time. Had she really thought they no longer cared for her just a moment ago? Had she truly thought they would soon call her to speak in private, and from there accuse her of horrible leadership and a failure to act against Irina's killers…?

"Tell me. Did you see anyone in a dark cloak lurking from a distance? Did you notice anyone suspicious watching you? _Did they have red eyes_?"

"No."

"No? You mean you were alone out there, then? Was it just you and Eleazar? Are you _sure_?"

"Yes." The cold feeling started to fade by degrees, and as if on impulse, she felt herself take in a small breath of air and release it. "There was only the two of us out there. I didn't hear or smell any others."

"Thank God," Kate repeated, drawing back just enough to look her sister in the face. "Oh, Tanya…_please_ don't do that again, all right? You…you made me think…"

"Stand down a bit, Katie," Garrett joked, always right behind her. "Let the girl breathe, eh?"

Kate almost laughed hysterically at this, but the sight of Tanya returning home unharmed seemed to be enough for her to calm down and hug her sister again. Tanya felt herself calming down as well, because now she could freely hug Kate back and not worry about losing her temper. She also felt nervous, mortified, watchful, apologetic, and just a little bit foolish that she had ever doubted her family…and yet, all these feelings seemed to subside when complete, wordless relief began to overtake her once-reeling senses.

In fact, since she had returned home safely; found out that the rest of her household had not been harmed; and not faced the worst after all, she now felt ready to do her very best. She just hoped her best would be enough this time.

"_Garrett_."

There was a startled, almost guilty look on the ex-nomad's face once she'd called him out by name.

"Yeah…?"

"I think there's something important that we need to talk about."

Eleazar almost made a movement towards the door, but she stopped him by raising a hand.

"All of us, I mean. You and Carmen should hear this too."

With four pairs of golden eyes focused upon her, Tanya allowed her body to relax before speaking up again.

"Garrett…you surprised me when I first saw you talking with Kate. You surprised me a lot, and I have to say, you even _annoyed_ me when you agreed to come back to Denali with us after the near-battle with the Volturi. The last Nomad that agreed to try our lifestyle out for himself ended up betraying us and returning to his former mistress. I believe you remember his name by now…?"

Garrett's eyes didn't quite meet her own, yet she knew she saw him nod in reply.

"That was a very rough time for me and my family. It was the one thing that made us almost break ties forever with the Cullens…allow for the possible slaughter of an innocent…and in the end; it was what made Irina judge Renesmee so harshly."

She raised her voice slightly as she added, "But she wasn't the _only_ one in our family who made judgments before meeting a newcomer, was she?"

In an instant, Tanya noticed the reactions of the others one by one—Eleazar's consoling look, Carmen's sympathetic gaze, the pain in Kate's eyes, and above all else, the wistful expression on Garrett's face. He'd already known everything she had done long before she brought it up, and that just made it hurt all the worse.

"Oh yes, it's true. Everyone else might have already dropped hints, but it's still my fault, isn't it? _I'm_ the one who stood at the back of the room every time you entered it. _I'm_ the one who wouldn't look you in the eye when you wanted to talk to me. _I'm_ the one who counted down all the hours, minutes, and seconds under my breath, waiting to hear you say you didn't want this life for yourself any more. _I'm_ the one who spent every day wondering just when you planned to give up and walk out on Kate and the rest of the family…just like Laurent did to Irina before she died."

Again came that quivering sensation to her eyes, that painful edge to her voice…but this time, she knew how to calm herself down and guide her own thoughts just enough to speak her peace.

"But instead of seeing you walk out, I was the one who practically made myself disappear, wasn't I? I walked out on you emotionally, mentally, maybe even spiritually…and that's why I want to be the one to fix this." She crossed the short distance between them; then gently placed a hand upon each of Garret's arms.

"I'm so very s—"

Exactly half a second had passed before Tanya realized that Garrett had pulled her into a tight hug, and by the time that other half-second had caught up, she heard him whisper, "I accept."

One more second, and then the both of them heard Carmen, Eleazar, and Kate applauding at once, their faces reflecting utter relief and joy over the long-awaited reconciliation. It was finished. She had let go of all of her old prejudices and negative feelings, and for that, she could see that the other four members of her family—yes, _four_—truly respected her for it. In their eyes, she could see that they did not regard her as a failure, but rather as a good leader who, even though she was capable of making mistakes, was also capable of learning from them.

"Thank you, Garrett," she answered, turning just enough to guide herself back into her sister's arms. The air smelled of snowmelt and fox fur and lilies here, but there were also the scents of leather, gunpowder, orange blossoms, red wine, sea salt, and summer grass, all of them flowing easily from one into the other. They were a true family in spirit, there was no doubt in her mind about that…but there was just one thing left for her to do so that they could become a family in name as well.

"And thank _you_, Kate, for asking me to give you away at your wedding. I accept."


End file.
